Trapped
by Foreteller Ava
Summary: With the Heartless swarm going to attack Riku, Aqua really only has one option, even if she'll regret it for the rest of her life. [0.2 Fix-it] [Slight AU]


**Disclaimer: The Author's Note at the bottom has a massive spoiler for KH3 in it. Read at your own peril.**

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Aqua sent away her Keyblade, watching as Mickey did the same. Whatever that demonic tide was, it was gone, the two of them had taken out the army of shadows and the shadow tower was gone, they were free to finish their quest. And then, she could leave with Mickey. She would finally be free of this dark realm.

"Let's keep goin'." Mickey looked up to Aqua, causing her to give him a nod in agreement. She was ready to face whatever might be guarding the key that Mickey was searching for. They went into the island's cave, looking around. Drawings decorated the walls, likely by the kids who used to live here. On one drawing, was a picture of a girl, one who looked similar to the one she met in Radiant Garden when she first met Mickey, and of the spikey haired boy she almost gave the Keyblade to.

A door stood in front of them, the only thing left to the cave. "I bet it's in here." Mickey pointed right at the door. Knowing what he meant, Aqua stepped forward, following Mickey's lead and pushed open the door. "There!"

She knew it the moment she saw it that the golden Keyblade was what they had been searching for. It was finally over. After what was almost ten years that Keyblade was the sign that it was over. Still, she asked just to be safe. "Is that what you're after?"

"Yep, it's just the key I was looking for. A Keyblade from the dark realm!" Mickey walked to the glowing golden Keyblade.

"A Keyblade of darkness." She didn't like the idea at all, but it was her best shot, so she accepted it.

"The door of darkness…tied by two keys. The door of darkness…to seal the light." Mickey picked up the Keyblade, claiming it as his own, flipping it around as though testing it. "Well, we've got the keys. Now we find the ones to close the door."

"Sorry?" Aqua stared at Mickey in confusion. This key, it was meant to provide her an escape, right? Not just close the only option she had to leave.

"The door between the two realms—it won't let a heart with light pass through. So only darkness keeps spilling out." Mickey explained, and Aqua felt her heart sink. So they'd still be trapped in the Realm of Darkness. But if the Realm of Light was safe, it was something. "We can lock the door by using two Keyblades, but we need help on both sides to get the door shut."

"Well then, since you'll be the one doing the locking, let me be the one to close the door." If she was already going to be trapped in the Realm of Darkness, she might as well do whatever she could to help. Besides, if she had a friend, she could keep going for a while longer, or at least she hoped she could.

"Sorry, but the job's taken…by somebody else." Mickey's reply didn't get her down. Maybe she could figure out a way through to the other side after all if Mickey had somebody to help him. Before she had a chance to question, the ground beneath them shook, and Aqua went to summon her Keyblade. A light flashed, and they were no longer on the replica of the islands, but rather back in Realm of Darkness.

Her eyes locked on the two white doors, the source of Heartless invading the Realm of Light. "Is that the one?"

"Yep, the door to Kingdom Hearts." Mickey turned to face her a moment later. "Welp, it's not the Kingdom Hearts you know. Not exactly. But even though it's smaller, it's still the heart of many worlds." The worlds she'd traveled in thus far, if Aqua could guess. "And even if it's not a complete Kingdom Hearts, we can't leave it open like this, or darkness will escape and destroy the remaining worlds."

"It's time. With this key, and my friend's key in the Realm of Light, we're gonna close this door." Mickey raised the Keyblade of darkness, ready for whenever his friend would appear. Aqua nodded. "Now, we just need—There!"

A boy with silver hair was running across the Realm of Darkness to the door, almost as if on cue. "That's everybody! Come on, Aqua!" They were going to do this, and then she, Mickey, and the boy could work together to escape. She was going to make it.

But before she could escape, a swarm of Heartless erupted, much like the Heartless tower they'd fought on the islands. It was going to attack the boy, and she had no choice.

"Back off!" She chained the Heartless up, using Master Keeper to hold it off as the now ball of Heartless kept struggling to break free of the bindings she held it in.

"Aqua!"

"Go without me!" She grimaced. She didn't want to be left behind, but if she wasn't, then that boy would die, and the door they were trying so hard to close would remain open. The Realm of Light would die, and her life wasn't worth that of all the individuals in the Realm of Light. Mickey shouted something, but she didn't hear as the Heartless broke free, attacking her and Mickey both and rushing her out of the Realm of Darkness and back through the wooden door onto the islands once more.

As she landed on the beach, her feet planting in the sand, she pit herself against the Heartless once more, letting out a scream in anguish. She had been so close. She'd had a friend, she could've had more. She could've made it out of this hellish place. "This is your fault!" She blocked the demonic stream of Heartless with her Keyblade as it ran at her, determined to take her heart. But she wouldn't let it. She wouldn't let this Heartless, of all Heartless, take her heart, not after how it trapped her in the darkness for who knows how long.

She slashed it again, summoning the chains once more to hold back the Heartless so it couldn't attack her. "I could've made it out! I could've seen if Terra was okay, if Ven was awake. I could've seen them both again!" She slashed at the Keyblade, watching as dark wisps evaporated off of it as the Heartless dissipated in the tower, one by one. She was trapped forever, but in truth, part of being trapped was her fault. She could've let the Heartless get the boy, but admittedly, that was about as unlikely as letting herself die.

Speaking of which, those Heartless had broken out of her chains again, and so she was back on the defensive. She had to pull herself together and focus on the fight, she could mourn her escape later, for now, her primary focus had to be on finding her strength. She focused on Terra and Ven, and saw her Wayfinder glimmer. "No matter what happens I won't let you attack Mickey and that boy." If she sacrificed herself to save the Realm of Light, she wouldn't let it be in vain. "I will be the Wayfinder that cuts through the darkness. I will find my way out and find Terra and Ven again, whatever it takes."

She landed on the ground, her Keyblade going to her side as she prepared for the demon tower's next strike. "That's a promise!"

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With the Heartless hoard finally defeated, Aqua lay on the beach, panting from the fight and far too exhausted to move. Especially since, at least for now, she was safe. Maybe, even if she wasn't, it wouldn't be so bad. Once the Realm of Light was safe, was there even really a reason for her to be here?

She closed her eyes, trying to ignore the tears that pricked at behind her eyelids. Now that she had time to process her emotions, feel more than anger at the darkness that had caused her to be trapped here once more, the realization hit her just how close she had actually been to being free. Escape had been right in front of her. If that Heartless had come just a couple of minutes later, she'd be with Mickey and his friend, celebrating their victory.

"It's not fair that after everything...I still can't be free…" She wouldn't fall pray to the world of darkness she had walked the last ten years. But in that moment, if darkness came for her, she wasn't sure she'd resist.

Her role to play in saving the Realm of Light was over, and after all, it might simply be less painful…be easier, to give in.

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 **So uh...evidently Aquanort was a really obvious twist and while I do see the set up in KH0.2, particularly when Aqua almost gives into the darkness I uh...have some complaints about that ending now.**

 **Made sense when Aqua was supposed to be a Guardian of Light, but now that she's a Seeker of Darkness her staying so hope filled makes her being norted unrealistic. I took a stab at explaining why she was a nort by coming up with a brief version of an event that might pull Aqua over to Xehanort's side, but tbh I feel like it might be a tad bit better to have the set up not negated by those final two scenes of 0.2, so instead, we return to the ideas presented in Nomura's initial draft. Give Aqua a breakdown.**

 **I tried to keep some semblance of the initial speech in it. I don't know if I succeeded well enough. The explanation behind it is Aqua's calling herself her own guiding light, rather than serving as that for others. I also set a little foreshadowing for my own theories on why she let herself be norted. Working with Xehanort after all would bring her back to Terra and, eventually, Ven regardless of what it takes. :3**

 **Thanks for reading!  
**

 **~Foreteller Ava/Nicole Peach**


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